Environmentalists to La Vie in the Sky: Releasing sky lanterns violates the law

CEBU CITY, Philippines — After Okada Manila’s failed attempt to stage a balloon drop, Cebu’s hilltop French restaurant La Vie in the Sky is on the hot seat after it posted an event about releasing sky lanterns for a Sinulog party.

The post has since been taken down from their Facebook page but not without netizens calling out the restaurant to stop the release of the sky lanterns.

“Sky Lanterns do not go to the sky. Period. You are just adding trash when these lanterns descend the skies, clogging our rivers and oceans,” wrote blogger Jeane Louise Mainit.

Mainit described the releasing of lanterns as “madness” and an event that should never be done.

The deleted post invited the public to experience a “Sinulog lantern festival” where “hundreds of floating lanterns with handwritten wishes to Santo Niño illuminate Cebu.”

The event was slated on January 19 and was scheduled to run 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., which charges P1,500 per person inclusive of dinner buffet, free-flowing wine and wish lantern.

“If you really wanted your prayers to be heard, kneel down at the Basilica or at your altars at home, not this shameful and environment-impacting activity,” said Mainit.

The event brought to mind the recent incident involving Okada Manila, who announced that they will drop 130,000 balloons in the indoor venue of Cove Manila as an attempt to land in the Guinness World Records.

Lawyer Liza Osorio, managing trustee of Philippine Earth Justice Centers, said sky lanterns are environmental hazards and fire risks.

“When they land on sea or land, animals might mistakenly eat parts of them. They have been known to cause fire in some areas especially when they land on heavily populated neighborhoods,” said Osorio.

She said sky lanterns are also aviation hazards because they can be sucked into aircraft fuselage when airborne. “At the end of the day, they become trash when they land because ‘what goes up must come down’,” she said.

Writing wishes on the sky lanterns and then releasing them attract the public as a dreamy and romantic gesture. However, AA Yaptinchay, director of Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, said releasing sky lanterns is just trash ceremoniously thrown to the environment.

Yaptinchay said this qualifies it as littering which goes against the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act No. 9003 of 2000. “Even if the material is biodegradable, it will still take weeks, month, or years for it to decompose.

In the meantime, it poses a threat to wildlife which might get entangled in the frame or eat them. With a trash crisis in the Philippines, no one should be creating more trash, especially in this magnitude,” said Yaptinchay.

Cebuana lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines, warned organizers that sky lanterns can end up either in the waters or inland and thus becomes litter.

“This is prohibited under RA 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and they (organizers) can be held accountable. Wildlife may eat them thinking its food,” said Ramos.

Even as the post about the “Sinulog Lantern Festival” has been taken down from restaurant’s Facebook page, it was uncertain if it will push through or not, as  La Vie’s management has not yet responded to Cebu Daily News Digital’s requests for a comment. /elb